I now know what an acid flashback feels like.

I took my first hit nearly two years ago, when, in a poorly lit corner of the Sellery Hall lounge, I saw visions of the future union crumbling beneath the boots of a unified student coalition — “progressives,” poor students and ASM members — and the oft-forgotten Student Government marching into Bascom proclaiming the end of segregated fees. Of course, that scared me for two reasons. One, the person leading the battle charge was wearing a feathered cap and a bowtie and two, students uniting around a central issue because of organized campus politicos seemed to indicate rabid insanity.

But I came down, rested in the red tent — or was that a gym? — and decided to write about my nightmarish trip in a more reserved tone for my first Badger Herald column. After some contemplation, I realized the object of their hatred, the proposed construction of a new Union South and renovation of a new Memorial Union, should result in some sort of protest.

But the results of the final election were certified — with 6 percent of the vote and approval of the Student Union Initiative — and people moved on.

Since then, I’ve had a few relapses: In the middle of Editorial Board I’ll start ranting about some mystical “gravy train” and start yelping “WUFIP!” uncontrollably, but then they calm me down and tell me the hard facts: Democracy may have been subverted previously, but this was the will of the voters — even if it was only a few of them.

Since then, the project has gone on as planned. The Board of Regents and state Legislature approved the project, and designs have gone as planned. Sure, it’s another unnecessary capital project shoved down students’ throats with a nice marketing campaign, but it’s too late to do anything now other than to prevent a vocal minority from pushing through a major seg fee increase such as this. And that’s all we can ask for —

Woah. Do you see what I do? A bunch of students holding petitions, signs and marching on the Union!

Hmm. But there is no bowtied head honcho, though there is one rather scruffy-looking individual I seem to recognize. Oh, and none of those massive spiders are here either.

That’s right. This is not a hallucination; a group of students are convinced that Union South should stay as it is and the whole Union Initiative should be put to a revote. Given the insanity of something like that, however, it’s easy to see how reality would blur the lines.

The band of students — which, as was incorrectly reported elsewhere, apparently is not joined by WISPIRG or College Democrats — believes that since our student government recently passed a measure saying any capital building projects must be approved by at least 15 percent of the student body, the Student Union Initiative should go to a second vote before any of this nonsense gets underway.

As much as I would love to indulge in the fantasy that the new Union won’t get built, this makes me angry more than anything.

Even if you missed your opportunity because of a shambolic student government and the union’s bottomless purse, you had other points at where you could have made your voice heard: The Board of Regents, building commission and the state Legislature all had this pass before their eyes. Hell, even the Assembly Republicans tried to pass a measure similar to the ASM threshold in their budget. I know progressives don’t associate much with conservatives, but this issue could have had the two singing Kumbayah.

Instead, opponents waited until the last minute to take action. Granted, I would have signed on to the petition if it was even remotely possible to stop this from happening, but it’s about two years too late.

And that’s what makes me furious about this. In the last two years, groups that label themselves as progressive have wasted time fighting for footwear laborers in a way that wouldn’t help them in the slightest. Democrats spent an inordinate amount of time adding another layer of gold to their White House hopeful in a city he was assured to win handily. Conservatives simply stood there and complained at how everyone overlooked them while flailing their arms wildly. And ASM… well, they’re ASM. But as the Union skipped its way through every potential checkpoint, every concerned student was busy taking their own hits.

So to anyone suffering their own flashbacks, let me bring you back down: That natatorium attachment creeping up behind you is not an illusion. And in an economy like this, they’re going to want to get started before the price of building materials skyrocket. Again.

So put the delusions of grandeur to rest. You may not be able to stop this wrecking ball, but if you pay attention, you might see the next one coming.

Jason Smathers ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in history and journalism.